Candy Lips
by Summersetlights
Summary: After seeing the intimate meeting between Jake and Alli, Clare gets lost in the woods. When Eli learns of her absence, he goes to her rescue...with Imogen and Adam by his side, of course.


_**Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi. Shocker, I know. **_

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><p>Jake and Alli. This boggled her mind. Here, in the middle of the woods, sat her step brother and best friend, kissing. And not just a simple peck, but a kiss that was obviously enjoyed by both parties. Jake's hand wrapped itself in Alli's with a force that made Alli groan and that made the two lovers move even closer to each other. Clare stepped back as if she had just been kicked in the stomach. The girl behind her, Bianca, scoffed and pursed her pouty lips. She flicked her hair to the side with a grace that most girls envied.<p>

"No wonder they call you Backwoods Bhandari." Bianca called out, much to Clare's displeasure. Clare winced as Alli whipped her head around with a snarl on her face, but then, when she saw Clare, her eyes widened and her body went slack.

"Jake...Alli?" Clare finally muttered, her mind still not understanding what was happening.

Alli's mouth opened and closed, which she did when she didn't have an easy answer to give. "We wanted to tell you, Clare-bear, we really did, but-"

"Tell me what?" Clare snapped sharply, her heart beating fast. She knew what Alli was going to say-she could feel it, but she wanted her best friend to voice her betrayal.

"They're obviously fucking." Bianca muttered, and that even caused Jake to glare at her. But Bianca shrugged and turned to Clare, a determined fire on her face, "Look, everyone but you knows that they're dating. Haven't you seen them sucking face in classrooms? They're the most obvious people in the world. I mean, come on, Edwards. They left the cabin at the same time, saying that they had to go to the "bathroom". Even Drew noticed this and he is oblivious as fuck."

Clare bit her lip and sighed, regretting even coming to the party at Jake's cabin. First, she had to see Eli dance with another girl. And now, she had just caught her best friend sucking face with Jake.

"Is this true?" She spit out, glaring at the both of them. They merely hung their heads and Clare knew the truth. Before any emotion came running out, she turned on her heel and marched away, with Bianca casually walking behind her. She ignored the calls of the two and tried not to let the tears run down her cheeks. She hated this. She hated that she was in the woods. She hated that she was with Bianca, of all people. And most of all, she hated how she stepped away from her date to look for the two-who-must-not-be-named. She hated how every time she trusted someone, they took it and twisted it so that in the end, she was a mess of words and thoughts and nothing but just that.

Oh, and she also hated that she had spilled apple juice on her dress. It was a white dress, too. She was just falling apart in every situation.

"Look, Edwards, the cabin is this way-" Bianca said from behind her, but Clare simply shrugged and continued to walk, her feet finding where to step and where to avoid. Twigs snapped underneath her as Bianca called after her, truly worried about the distant girl. Clare knew that, eventually, Bianca would walk up to the cabin, get drunk, and finish her night the way she had planned. And Clare wanted that for the girl. She and Bianca had been paired together randomly in class, and ever since, they fit together like yin and yang. They didn't have what she and Alli once had, but they liked each other enough to talk at least once a day.

Clare stopped and finally let her mind match up with her steps. It was midnight and she was alone. On Halloween. In the dark. In a forest. With nothing but pure black surrounding and absorbing her vision. And honestly, Clare knew that should be worried and usually, she would be. But right now, she shrugged and proceeded to walk again, her hand feeling in front of her body, in case of a tree, or worse; an animal.

But when a short howl echoed throughout the night, she dropped her knees immediately and listened, scared for what was coming next.

.

.

.

"Hey, Elijah." Imogen spoke in her clear and dreamy tone. She looked at the boy, who had been flipping through one of the books he brought. He glanced up and even after all this time, Imogen's eyes made his eyes widen in shock. She was always so intense.

"Imogen, we talked about this," Eli muttered, his eyes dropping back down to his book, and he flipped a page,"You _can_ call me Eli."

"I like Elijah, though. It's very...classy. And actually, I'd like it if your name was Elliot, I think that that'd fit you well."

Eli scrunched his face up in distaste and shook his head, almost repulsed by her suggestion. He was about to drift down to his book again when Imogen grabbed his arm tightly and giggled lightly when he jumped back in surprise.

"God, Imogen, you can't just do that to me! What if I did-"

"Does Adam like anyone?"

"-that to you? ...What?"

Eli snapped his book shut and leaned closer to Imogen, who was blushing wildly at what she had just asked. But Eli felt a smirk forming on his lips, and a giggled erupting in his stomach.

"...You like Adam?" Eli whispered with humor, looking over her shoulder at Adam, who was chowing away at the table filled with different meals and foods. Eli grinned and Imogen smacked him, the true girl in her erupting and poking through. But Eli merely grunted and tried not to grin anymore.

"You so like him." Eli commented and Imogen sighed, her pigtails bouncing.

"Yes, Elijah, I do. But, I'll have to love from afar, because he'll never like someone like me," Imogen turned to stare at Adam, who was still at the food table, and a love-struck smile reached her lips, "I mean, just look at him! He's so handsome, isn't he?"

"Uh, I guess-"

"And the way he talks. He gave me his pencil yesterday and he smiled at me and said you're welcome, before I even said thank you! He knew what I was going to say, and that's when I knew that I liked him."

Eli decided not to tell her that everybody knew that before you're welcome, you had to have thank you. He gently pushed Imogen's back towards Adam, who was talking to Dave, and Imogen gasped and turned around to glare at Eli.

"Don't do that!"

"Just talk to him!"

But Imogen merely "hmphed" and walked away, leaving Eli to himself. He looked around at everyone and his eyes traveled to the door, where a guilty looking Alli and Jake had entered. Eli rolled his eyes, his distaste for the both of them was very apparent. His eyes made their way to his book, which seemed extremely boring to everything around him. Eli pushed off from the wall he was leaning on and made his way through the crowd, the crappy music filling his ears. The singer was whining about losing his love at thirteen, which was not Eli's style.

Eli moved to the door and stepped outside to get some air, but when he walked out, a very stressed Drew was on the phone.

"We'll come get you, I promise! You'll be okay! Stay strong! We still have time!" And Drew hung up the phone and ran his fingers through his spiked hair. He turned around and when he saw Eli, his eyes widened and he ran forward, "Oh! Eli! I need your help to find Clare! Listen to me, she's hurt or something."

Eli was all ears.

.

.

.

"Damn phone." Clare muttered to herself each time her connection broke up. She had to explain to Drew that her phone was dying and that she was alone. In the dark. Probably miles away from the cabin. But the connection was awful and every time that they even started to talk, the phones their voices would disappear, leaving only their breathing.

After they had finally hung up, Clare leaned back against a tree and tried to fight off her sleepiness. But the temperature was perfect and the animal noises around her soothed and calmed her down. She hadn't gotten much sleep over the past couple of weeks. With Jake and his father moving in and the wedding plans fiddling around her head.

_"Oh, Clare! You'll be my maid of honor and Jake will be the best man!"_

_"Does this dress make me look fat?"_

_"No, your father is not coming."_

_"Clare, please at least try to care! If you look bad, so does everyone else!"_

These words circled around Clare's head each day, with each syllable clinging onto her every move. She wanted to do this for her mother, but she truly thought that this was a bad idea. No because Jake was her ex-boyfriend, but because her mother and father had just cut their ties, and her mother was already engaged to another man. The whole plan seemed shady to her.

So, without thinking anymore, she gave into the sleep that was calling to her.

.

.

.

"I say that we all go and look for her." Jake offers, and looks to Alli for support, and she nods vigorously. People mumble around them, still unable to think of the best plan. Because Drew was unnaturally loud, everyone knew about Clare's absence within at least two minutes. Everyone sat around the living room, planning their "attack" as Adam had called it, earning a giggle from Imogen.

"No, because if we do that, we'll all get lost." Eli reasoned, and that earned a more enthusiastic response from the others. Eli couldn't tell if they actually liked that idea or they just wanted to continue their partying.

"Well, who was the last person who saw her?" Adam asked, looking around at everyone. A silence filled the air and attentively, Jake and Alli raised their hands, and internally, everyone groaned. All of them could only imagine what had happened. At least all of them had seen the two kiss, except Clare.

"And..." Drew asked, waving his hands around, trying to get the two uncomfortable lovers to talk. Jake and Alli looked at each other and Jake shrugged, while Alli shifted.

"She walked away." Alli whispered, biting her lip. From her expression, it was apparent that she was just starting to realize the danger in the situation, "She saw us and she just walked away...but, Bianca, didn't you see her last?"

Everyone turned to Bianca. "Yeah, but she just continued to walk. I thought that she'd come back." Bianca muttered, her plastic nails digging into her skin on her palm. With Bianca's words, everyone turned to each other, their faces grim and gaunt.

Breaking the silence, Eli walked to the closet and opened it with a strong pull. Blankets fell out, but Eli merely kicked them to the side and grabbed the flashlights. He checked each one, making sure that the light was bright and would actually be useful. He grabbed a handful of candy and stuffed it into his pocket and continued his work on the flashlights. Once he was sure about each and every one, he stepped back and turned towards the group of semi-drunk kids.

"Look, I need at least three more people to go with me. We'll split up and try to find Clare, because obviously we aren't getting anything done by standing around here, talking. So, any takers?"

Almost immediately, Jake and Alli popped up, along with Adam, and with Adam, Imogen offered too. Eli nodded and licked his lips. "Perfect. Me, Adam, and Imogen," Eli pointed at Jake, "And you and Bhandari can be a pair. How does that sound?"

It was a question, but they had no room to answer, because Eli was already out the door with his team following him.

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.

.

She's so...bored.

She didn't expect being lost in the woods to be fun, but this is just torture. She can't read, she can't talk, and the ants seem to like her legs because they have run up each of her legs at least five times. She swats at every insect, but she still finds little bumps covering every inch of her flesh.

"Clare."

She looked up strangely at the different bugs surrounding could have sworn that she had just heard name. But, she listened closely, and only silence greeted her.

"Clare!"

This time, Clare stood up and when her name was called again, she screamed back. In a matter of minutes, she heard people running towards her. A flashlight was on her and a pair of jade eyes were close to her face.

"Clare?"

"No, Eli, it's Jesus."

"Shut up, Adam," Eli muttered, and was taken aback when Clare hugged him, her skin like ice on his. Clare took in his scent and was more than happy for the human contact, "Hey, are you okay? Drew thought that you were hurt, but-"

"No, I'm fine, sorry." Clare muttered, pulling back from Eli, an awkward silence filling in the air. Imogen sighed and turned to Adam.

"Let's go, Adam Torres." Imogen said happily, pulling on his hand. Adam shot Clare and Eli a look of confusion but didn't protest. Once they were out of earshot, Clare began to giggle, her shoulders shaking.

"Does Adam know that Imogen likes him?" Clare muttered, and Eli crack a smile.

"Oh, he will very soon. Imogen's not the most...subtle with her feelings." He admitted, remembering when she liked him and made sure that he knew it, "But I think with Adam it's different. It's more of a…like than an infatuation."

"He deserves someone to like him like that." Clare said, earning an agreeing nod from Eli. He jerked his head, to the direction of the cabin and they walked carefully throughout the woods, trying not to fall.

"So, why didn't you come back to the cabin?" Eli asked after a couple of minutes of silence, and Clare took a sudden intake of breath, "I mean, if you don't want to tell me, just say so...never mind."

"No, um, I don't know actually. I saw Jake and Alli together and I just...wasn't thinking and I just started to walk and I didn't stop. I guess that I just wasn't thinking."

"I get that." Eli reasoned, shaking his head, "I mean, it must have been weird to see Jake and Alli together..."

Clare shrugged and nodded. "Yeah, but it just sort of...caught me off guard, you know? I just didn't expect it. And I just got angry because I trusted them...but I guess that's life, isn't it? You have to let people be happy."

"Look at you, wise and all."

"What can I say, Goldsworthy? You bring that out in me!"

_"Obviously."_

"So smug."

"Once again,_obviously_."

Clare grinned widely and the silence crept on them again as the distance to the cabin became shorter. A light was making its way into the sky, but just barely, and Eli shut off his flashlight. Birds awoke around them and flew above them with energy that the two teenagers didn't have.

"Clare!" A male voice screamed out into the early morning and Eli and Clare both froze.

"Oh, man, no one told Alli and Jake that we found you." Eli groaned, pulling out his phone to call them. But even before he pressed the first number, Clare put her hand over his and shook her head.

"My wise streak is all used up...let them look for me."

"But you're found...?"

"Exactly."

Eli opened his mouth, but then snapped his lips shut. A smirk wormed its way onto his lips and he let out a bark of laughter, which echoed. "Look at you, being all...dark. You continue to surprise me, Edwards." Eli turned around to finish his walk to the cabin, because it was only a couple of feet away, but Clare grabbed his arm and quickly place a light kiss on his chapped lips.

"Um, thank you, Eli. For finding me...and, your lips taste like candy..." Clare muttered the last part and she brought her hand up to her mouth. Eli merely shrugged and choked back a laugh.

"It is Halloween, right?"

And with a smirk, Eli walked up the cabin stairs, leaving Clare alone, with her hand still on her lips. She looked up to the sky and removed her hand from her burning lips, and let a smile grace her pink lips.

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><p><strong><em>This sounded good in my head...Review, please? :)<em>**


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